


Small Comforts

by Ninja_Librarian



Series: Shidge Month 2018 [14]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Day 14: Free Day, F/M, Shidge Month 2018
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 18:00:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14314131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninja_Librarian/pseuds/Ninja_Librarian
Summary: Shiro lost something else important when he was taken prisoner by the Galra. Can it be found?





	Small Comforts

“Guys, you’ve got to come see this!” Hunk said excitedly over the comms. “You’re not going to believe what Lance and I found!”

Pidge couldn’t even begin to guess what could have possibly found on a Galra war cruiser that made Hunk so excited.

Yet, when she arrived, her eyes widened and her mouth formed an ‘o’ before a grin.

What she saw before her was something very familiar. She carried a picture with it in the background.

The _Persephone_ , the Kerberos Mission shuttle.

Pidge joined Lance where he stood at a table, hastily abandoned by Galra scientists.

“They were checking out the Garrison tech from the looks of it,” Lance said. He grinned and nudged Pidge’s shoulder with his fist. “But they were wasting their time. Pidgey Tech is way better.”

Pidge didn’t get a chance to respond, looking over her shoulder at hearing a “Whoa.” Keith and Shiro entered, the former looking slightly impressed.

“Explains why the Garrison had to lie so much to cover their asses,” Keith commented as he walked around the shuttle. “Nothing to recover at all.”

Pidge walked along the tables, mentally cataloging the items. Food supply, science equipment, her dad’s favorite sweater…

Pidge grabbed that, hugging it to her chest. Yes, this was definitely coming home with her… She wondered what else she could find.

She wasn’t the only one.

“It might be here,” Shiro said suddenly, all eyes turning to him. Pidge was surprised to see Shiro, now moving things around on the tables, looking almost frantically for something.

“Shiro? You okay?” Lance asked hesitantly.

“Looking for something,” Shiro said as he moved aside an extra flightsuit.

“What is it?” Keith asked. “We’ll help you look.”

Shiro suddenly paused, and Pidge saw him bite his lip for the briefest of moments. It was in that moment she knew what he was looking for, and why he wouldn’t say directly. He wasn’t worried about being teased, though, he was worried about being seen as weak. “No, it’s fine.”

“Come on, if you just tell us what it is, we’ll help,” Hunk said.

“I…” Shiro took a deep breath, apparently making a decision. He made his choice, and said, “I’m looking for a stuffed toy.”

“A… stuffed animal?” Lance said, brow furrowing slightly.

Shiro’s cheeks were suddenly tinged pink. “I’ve had him since I was a kid. Took it with me to Kerberos. I figured I might never see him again, but if he’s here…”

“We’re on it,” Keith said with a nod. “What kind of animal is it?”

“A dog, black. Like a Labrador,” Shiro said. “Black nose and brown eyes.”

“Does he have a name?” Lance asked, now starting to look on the tables as well.

“Ryou,” Shiro explained.

“Well, don’t worry, Shiro, you happen to have one of the finest stuffed animal finders this side of the universe,” Lance said, placing his fingertips on his chest dramatically. “My little sister is super-obsessed with this stuffed cat of hers, named Señor Boots, but she once lost him in the park. I’m the one who found him. Though, after that and all the tears, my mom bought like, eight, of the same toy and hid them in the closet as back-ups.”

“Wouldn’t she notice if it wasn’t exactly Señor Boots?” Keith asked, pausing before he climbed into the hull of the shuttle.

“So far that hasn’t happened, and if it does hopefully she’ll just believe Señor Boots went to a spa and came back looking practically brand new,” Lance said.

“Think they took out everything from the shuttle?” Hunk asked.

“Looks like a bit of everything from everywhere,” Pidge commented. “Hard to tell without having an inventory list.”

Alas, several hours of searching and turning the entire hanger inside and out yielded nothing. They had looked absolutely everywhere and they couldn’t find the toy.

Pidge felt so bad looking at Shiro, who was clearly upset and trying to hide it, brushing off apologies from everyone and distancing themselves from their offered support.

As soon as they were back in the Castle, Shiro disappeared.

She felt so sorry, so sad, for him. She knew that Shiro had literally had that stuffed dog his entire life, had taken it practically everywhere: to kindergarten, to a new country, to getting his tonsils out, to the Garrison, to getting his wisdom teeth out, even to weekend visits to her house.

The Galra had taken so much from him. His arm, a year of his life, his ability to sleep through the night peacefully. And now this.

Then, something clicked in her brain. Something Lance had said about replacement toys.

Pidge gasped and ran to find Lance.

“We need to go to the Space Mall!” Pidge yelled, practically tackling her friend who let out a yelp.

“What?” Lance said, brow furrowing when he registered what Pidge had said. “Why?”

“Because,” Pidge said, grinning. “I’ve got to hope that the Earth Store still has something in stock.”

*****

One trip to the Space Mall in the Blue Lion later, Pidge and Lance were rather giddily walking into dinner.

“There you two are,” Allura said as she dished up some food goo for herself. “Where have you been?”

“Shopping,” Pidge said, holding up a plain brown paper bag for emphasis. “Where’s Shiro?”

“Sulking a bit,” Hunk said. “Keith went to try to get him to come out of his room.”

“I know how to get him out,” Pidge said, grin growing. “We got him a present.”

With that, she took off running.

She passed Keith in the hall—he flattened himself against the wall so as to not be run over by her—and to Shiro’s door, knocking.

She heard a sigh from inside. “Look, I told Keith—”

“Shiro, open the door!” Pidge said loudly. “I’ve got something for you!”

There was some silence, then Shiro opened the door looking at Pidge in confusion. She grinned and held the paper bag out to him. 

“Pull out what’s inside,” She encouraged.

Cautiously, he did so, sticking his hand in, his eyes widening and Pidge’s grin growing as Shiro’s hand met fake fur.

Shiro stared in wide-eyed wonder at the black stuffed dog toy.

“It’s… How?” He whispered. “We looked everywhere…”

“It’s not the same one,” Pidge said. “But I remembered seeing one exactly like it at the Earth Store in the Space Mall. And I know it can’t really replace yours but,” She gave him a small smile. “Maybe we can just pretend he went to a spa or something?”

Shiro didn’t say anything at first, still just staring down at the toy. Then the next thing Pidge knew, she was letting out a small surprised yelp as Shiro pulled her to him tightly, and she felt hot wet droplets hit her hair.

“Thank you,” Shiro whispered. “Thank you so much…”

Pidge smiled and hugged him back. “Anytime.”

From then on, Shiro slept much easier, curled up with both Pidge and the stuffed toy—this one dubbed Kuro.

Kuro the stuffed dog held a special place in the hearts of Shiro and Pidge, and both loved him equally. Bad days for Pidge meant putting on her dad’s sweater, curling up against Shiro, and hugging Kuro to her chest. Bad days for Shiro meant lying in bed—sometimes alone, sometimes with Pidge, sometimes in the dark, sometimes with every single light on—with one arm around Kuro. He was a good-luck charm, a comfort item, a promise that even though their lives would never return to normal they could still grasp tightly onto their life from before Kerberos, before the Galra, before Voltron.

Because there were some things that could never change. Like their love.

**Author's Note:**

> And as soon as Pidge got back to Earth, she bought every single identical toy like this off Ebay and hid them in her closet for emergencies... XD


End file.
